Reptile-safe crafting materials?

[KarmicBacklash]

Helloooo snek forum, newly registered user here who needs some advice for a project!

I have a juvenile corn snake (a year old in exactly five days!) for whom I have just purchased a new, adult-sized enclosure, made-to-order from the breeder who sold her to me, and I'm working on getting new hides and deco together for when it arrives. I've decided on a theme that I really want, but the problem is that there's precious little deco available that works for it. Given the popularity of the Legend of Zelda franchise, you'd think there would be more stuff available, but nope; I've found exactly one thing that would have been appropriate for a reptile terrarium, and it's extremely expensive. (A Sheikah Shrine hide; it looks amazing, but it's about $140 CAD, and I don't have that kind of cash to spare for a single deco/hide item right now.)

So, since there's practically nothing available commercially that suits my purposes, the obvious solution is to make my own. However, I don't know what kind of materials would be safe to use for making hides and decorations. I want to make my own Sheikah Shrine hide:

https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wp-cont...-Au-Shrine.jpg

sans glow, I wouldn't even know where to begin with something like that,

The Master Sword in its pedestal:

https://cdnb.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1528487130

Goddess statues:

https://i.etsystatic.com/11741329/r/...71001_bsrb.jpg

and Silent Princess flowers:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20170223011926

To name a few. (Looking into a waterfall water dish as well, but I'd be buying that, not making it, so that's another matter entirely) The statues and the shrine would probably have to be made of some kind of clay, I would imagine; I'm accustomed to using Sculpey, but is that reptile safe? Moreover, what type of sealant would be safe to use on it? I can't imagine the floor polish I use on most of my work would be at all safe for my snake. I have no idea at all what I could use to make the flowers.

It's something of an ambitious project, but it's the theme I really want for my snake's enclosure. If it can't be done safely, I'll scrap it and figure out something else, since her safety and happiness are much more important than aesthetics, but I'm hoping it can be done and to get some good advice on how to go about it.

Thanks in advance to everyone who can help me out!

[TrishTheTerp]

Hi there! I would recommend this post for the basic hide build: https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...tic-quot-Hides. It may be possible to build statues and such out of the clay as well!

[TofuTofuTofu]

Do you have access to clay and a kiln? Local art classes will sometimes fire your pieces for a small fee (for me I think it was $10 for several pieces I fired). The most long-term reliable material to use would be ceramic, because it will have the properties of a fossil once fired in a kiln and it'll be waterproof, totally safe for the snake, and will be indestructible to being cleaned with pretty much anything (dishwasher, bleach, chemicals). You could even maybe pay for an "open studio" session and finish it for pretty cheap; some art places offer people the opportunity to come in and work on stuff. Even if they don't, if you can call and ask and just say you're an artist and have a small project you want to do, they may let you do it. I have found that the ceramics community is surprisingly helpful and friendly, lol.

I hesitate to do the recipe linked above, only because it is made of materials that likely wouldn't last long (I know it is sealed with Krylon but if it's made of flour etc, I don't think this works too well long-term). Because I don't think it'll last long-term, and if you put time into carving it into the design you want, I don't think you'll be happy with it (depends on your standards, though, but you seem able to do crafts so likely you'll want something that lasts longer).

If you can't go the actual ceramic clay route, I would tentatively suggest Creative Paperclay, which is a really strong air-dry clay. It can be shaped easily and carved when it is dry, and you can even add onto it with more clay once it is dry. Only thing is, you would definitely need to seal it/waterproof it because, in order to rehydrate the clay, you use water, so clearly water makes it fall apart. When I have worked with it, I didn't have to put it in a humid environment, and I oil painted to color and then sealed it with Krylon. For an enclosure, I would recommend acrylic paint and then seal it with Krylon? I guess? Make sure it is no longer stinky and definitely wait a few days. Acrylic is basically plastic, which other reptile products are made of... But again I'm just brainstorming here; I haven't tested it out so I can't speak of the durability.

Also, it would be difficulty to clean anything made with the above materials. You can clean it visually, but could not reliably sanitize it because, even with a Krylon coat, I think that manually scrubbing it with any kind of cleaning liquid would wear down the coat in that specific area. This would basically expose part of the item to being unsealed and, over time, could start to deteriorate.

Anything that is not ceramic or printed in a 3d printer will need to be kept away from water or any kind of humidity. I know corn snakes aren't as humid, so it might be okay. But just make sure it isn't around humidity--ie, I wouldn't use it as a humid hide, even temporarily while shedding, just because it might off-gas something, too. I doubt any off-gassing would like, kill your snake, but personally I wouldn't want that happening at all.

[TofuTofuTofu]

Oh, hey, I just saw this old post and someone else also posted a Zelda-themed enclosure. Said they made it out of apoxy sculpt, which I don't have experience with. Maybe you could pm them with any questions if you want to try that material?

https://ball-pythons.net/forums/show...=1#post2580691